Western Cape residents urged to upgrade prepaid meters before November deadline

Source: EWN Traffic
Author: Ntuthuzelo Nene

CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape government has reminded the province's residents to upgrade their prepaid electricity and water meters before the November deadline to avoid a complete blackout.

Provincial Finance and Economic Growth MEC Mireille Wenger says 88 percent of prepaid meters in the province have already been updated.

Wenger says the Bergrivier and Cape Agulhas are the only municipalities that have completed the switch over of all meters in their jurisdictions.

"We're making steady progress in the switch over of prepaid water and electricity meters in the Western Cape, but now is the time to ramp up efforts to complete the process and avoid disaster come November 24. If we don't, it will be the equivalent of load shedding on steroids for thousands of homes and businesses."

Meanwhile, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said that the provincial energy council is committed to working with Eskom in addressing electricity challenges faced by residents.

The energy council, responsible for planning, implementing, and rolling out the province's energy resilience plan, met with Eskom officials on Friday.

Winde said that the Eskom delegation was invited to provide an update on the power utility's response to a host of mass outages experienced in the province in recent months.

He added that Eskom also gave an update on the refurbishments at the Koeberg power plant to extend the facility's lifespan by another 20 years.

"Unit 1 has already been synchronised back to the grid in mid-November and has been operational for 166 days. It's in the final stages of the licensing process that needs to be completed by July. The second unit came offline in December and that is in the process of the refurbishment and that is due to be in operation on September 30."